Posts Tagged ‘gluten free’

Good morning. Are your taste buds ready for something good? And y’all, this stuff is good.

I’ve been trying to figure out some good recipes that are both gluten free and delicious. And this is seriously delicious. Additionally, I decided this week I wanted to meal plan. (I’ve seriously wanted to make some big life changes for the better with this Lenten season.) While approaching meal planning, I did a lot of research and realized it’s insane to even begin this process. How many of you meal plan? Do you weekly, bi-weekly, monthly? I’m so interested in this thing. Maybe I’ll start blogging with my research, ideas, and plans! We can do this together.

Ok, back to this recipe. I found a great blog that had a week of meals and I quickly found this delicious recipe. I already had tilapia on hand (see Tuesday’s meal on the blog), so we just needed some greens and the ingredients for Garlic and Goat Cheese Spaghetti Squash. Lately I’ve tried to branch out with my spaghetti squash meals away from actual spaghetti to other pasta dishes. I made a few real good ones (and didn’t photograph them, I’m sorry), but decided this one needed to be photographed and blogged about.

So let’s get to the recipe. It might be the easiest thing ever. And as you know, I follow recipes loosely. I hope that doesn’t discourage you from making it. These things are flexible.

Spaghetti Squash and Goat Cheese

Ingredients:-Garlic (I used minced, about 2 heaping tsps, you can use fresh – up to 8 cloves depending on your taste buds)
– 3+ tbsp butter
-1/4 cup Dried Parsley
– 3/4 cup Olive Oil (this can vary depending on how big your spaghetti squash is and how much sauce you want)
-Salt and Pepper, to taste
-1 Spaghetti squash
-Goat Cheese (the recipe says 11 oz, I think 8 oz is plenty and I used a large squash and LOVE goat cheese)

Directions:1. Prepare your spaghetti squash according to your favorite way. I do mine like this, but the recipe I followed tells you to cook it whole. Try whatever you want, but remember if you’re putting it in the oven, it takes a while so bake it early.

2. In a pan melt your butter and add in garlic. Saute the garlic for 10 minutes. I used minced, so I probably didn’t cook it for that long, but I did want the flavors to blend nicely.

3. Once the garlic is sautéed, add parsley, salt, pepper, and olive oil. Blend together and heat for 3-5 minutes. Turn off heat and set aside.

4. Once your spaghetti squash is cooked (and cooled), grab your fork and “pull” it apart. You can leave the “spaghetti” in the squash for a bowl serving, or put it all in a large dish. I always put mine in a large dish to help portion it out for sides.

5. Pour the butter-garlic-oil mixture over the squash and mix well. It should coat and soak into the squash evenly.

6. Serve with crumbled goat cheese over the top.

I don’t think I can express to you enough how delicious this dish tastes. Sadly our squash turned a little mush-like instead of stringy, but it tastes the same, so who cares, right? I am definitely going to put this dish into my arsenal of meals for future weeks!

I made something delicious the other day and I’m excited to share it with you. Eggplant was on sale at the grocery store so I decided to find a recipe to try. I tend to replace lasagna noodles with eggplant in a casserole dish, so this time I decided to replace them in the form of lasagna rolls. I found the recipe here and adapted it to what ingredients I had in my kitchen. Here’s what I did:

3. Mix ricotta, asiago, kale, and parsley. I did not measure any of these ingredients because I was finishing what I had in the fridge. I probably used 12 oz of ricotta, 1 to 2 cups of kale, and 1/2 cup of parsley. Once mixed, set aside until eggplant has cooled.

4. In a greased casserole dish, pour a small amount of meat sauce in the bottom. Just enough to cover.

5. Take a slice of eggplant and scoop about a tablespoon of cheese and greens mixture onto one end. Roll up eggplant so it makes a complete roll. Place eggplant roll joint down in the dish. Repeat until dish is full (or you run out of ingredients).

Don’t let the title deter you. These cookies are delicious and sweet! I couldn’t wait to blog and tell y’all about them! I had an intense sweet tooth yesterday and my orange did not hold me over. I searched Pinterest for a delicious and manageable dessert to feed my needs. I stumbled across this recipe that has just a few ingredients, and all ingredients were already in my kitchen! Jackpot!

Procedure:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease or line a cookie sheet.

2. In a large bowl, combine first three ingredients (almond meal, coconut oil, maple syrup). I used a hand mixer to combine ingredients. The coconut oil gets a little tricky since it’s more of a solid at room temperature. It eventually works its way around. You could use a stand mixer.

3. Add in vanilla, salt, and baking soda. Stir in chocolate chips.

4. Roll the dough into balls and shape as you please on cookie sheet. They do not change shape while baking.

5. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until bottoms are golden brown. The cookies do not brown on top much.

6. Allow cookies to completely cool before transferring to a paper towel to absorb excess oil. (I skipped this step out of purely not reading directions.)

Gluten free, egg free, refined sugar free Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are delicious. Be careful when biting into them, they tend to crumble a bit, and we don’t like to waste cookie in our house!

I am so excited about this post because it may be the easiest thing I have ever made with the best return! I’m quite busy on Pinterest most days searching for dairy substitutes, gluten-free treats, and healthy eating options. I came across this simple guilt free “ice cream” and knew it must be made! Let’s dive in!

Directions:1. Slice and freeze ripe bananas until you’re ready to make this easy treat.

Frozen Bananas

2. Break up your frozen bananas and put them in your food processor. (If you read the link above, she doesn’t suggest using a blender unless it’s one of those fancy ones.) This process took a little while because the bananas need to be stirred and moved to make sure their being hit by the blade. At first it seems discouraging because the bananas aren’t looking like anything special, but keep going. There will be a magical moment when the bananas all whip together and look just like soft serve ice cream or frozen yogurt.

Banana “Ice Cream”

3. At this point you can do whatever you want to the bananas. I added peanut butter and cocoa because I wanted this to be a little bit less guilt free. (I haven’t had peanut better in almost 3 months! So sad!) I think it would be delicious with cherries or chocolate chips!

Banana Peanut Butter Cocoa “Ice Cream”

4. It’s that easy! Serve in your favorite ice cream bowl or cup! I’m going to go eat a cup right now! Good any time of the day!

I have never cooked or even eaten spaghetti squash before this attempt. I am not sure I would’ve ever tried, but David went to the grocery store and came home with one. I asked why he bought one (considering I’ve never made one and it wasn’t on the list). His response, “You told me to buy vegetables on sale.” So here sat my challenge: figure out how to cook spaghetti squash. There are a lot of theories on how to cook spaghetti squash, just do a quick search and you’ll come across lots of ideas: cut on the equator, microwave, roast, don’t cut open, cut open. You get the idea. Here’s how I did it.

2. Carefully cut the spaghetti squash in half (not along the equator). Scoop out the seeds and insides.

3. Coat the squash with a small amount of butter (or oil) and then season with salt and pepper. Place the squash cut side down on the greased pan. Cook at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Turn the squash over and cook for 10 more minutes.

Spaghetti Squash

4. Remove the squash from the oven and let it sit for 10-20 minutes.

5. Using a fork, pull out the inside of the squash. It easily comes out and instantly looks pretty!

Spaghetti Squash

6. While the squash is cooking, cook and season your ground turkey and warm up spaghetti sauce.

You may have noticed a lack in food-related blogs; I’m so sorry! On New Year’s Day I announced David and I were going paleo! After doing a lot of research regarding what’s best for our bodies, we have settled on a more modified paleo. To be specific for me, I am attempting gluten-free, sugar-free, dairy-free! I know, it sounds like a sad life to live, but I feel so much more energetic than ever before! It’s glorious! I occasionally cheat since it’s not that I have an allergy to those things. (For example I went crazy and ate a cake ball the other day! Totally worth every bite!)

In addition to my wonderful diet, I am Catholic and it is the lenten season which means no meat on Fridays! While searching the web for delicious recipes that fall into our diet, I found this avocado egg salad and needed to try it.

Directions:
1. Boil eggs and chill. Remove shell from eggs.
2. Cut open and scoop out avocado inside.
3. Mash up avocado and eggs in bowl. Season to liking.

Avocado Egg Salad

It’s that easy. Seriously. I served it with gluten free crackers, but it would make a great sandwich or even be good on a salad. It’s really a combination between egg salad and guacamole. If you love either of those things, you must try this deliciousness.